Badland Part 103 Pilots and Builders Forum

Found this interesting old article about Badlands’ predecessor, the BeLite. https://www.kitplanes.com/flight-review ... ltralight/ Wiebe utilized VGs to manage the flight envelope. Would they be an advisable option? This story raised another question: If I tune the motor and pitch the prop to comply with Pt 103 max speed at my home area at +/-3000 MSL, what happens if I take a cross-country close to sea level and my plane becomes capable of exceeding 55kt? Am I suddenly illegal or does the FAA make considerations based on my home base?

First of all, illegal is a sick bird. If on a cross country, you exceed the max 63 mph Pt 103 speed. Are you going to call and report yourself?

Dobie, the one thing to keep in mind is that the UL community is largely self-governed. The FAA doesn't come into play in this community unless they absolutely have to.

So if you DO exceed that 55 kts, try to do it as far from anything solid as you can. Stay in the blue section.

Another thing to consider is that you do not have to tune the engine for a certain speed. What I mean by this is that it is perfectly legal to put a throttle stop on the engine. The rule is that as long as the pilot is unable to adjust the throttle stop in flight, then you are legal. Such as, having a throttle stop on the throttle device inside the plane would be a violation. It would be to easy to unscrew a throttle stop while in flight. If the throttle stop is under the cowl, that's a different story and perfectly legal.

I also read and article (I'll see if I can find it) that covered calibrated speed vs. actual speed. The article covered why your plane at a calibrated speed of 55 knots may exceed that speed and be perfectly legal.

And, as some have hinted here, the FAA has better things to do than hunt down an ultralight that my regularly see near 60, 62 knots. Know if you're consistently hitting 75 knots, that may irritate the UL community enough to get you some unwanted attention. Remember that we are very lucky in that the FAA leaves us alone, and gross violations can cause that freedom to quickly end. For the most part, stay within regulations and you won't have any issues.

You sound like you're heading in the same direction I am. I plan to do as much cross country flying as possible. I want to go places!

Speed only counts if the FAA is chasing you, you're late for a date, or supper is getting cold! Or maybe you had one of those big 32oz big drinks before you took off. It's not how fast you get there, it's how you got there. Enjoy the ride!

Mountain Cat wrote: ↑Mon Sep 25, 2023 7:54 pm Or maybe you had one of those big 32oz big drinks before you took off.

I found the article and guess what, it happens to reference a Belite, by who else? James himself. It's a short read.

https://jameswiebe.wordpress.com/2010/0 ... -55-knots/

Todd

“ the FAA has better things to do than hunt down an ultralight that my regularly see near 60, 62 knots.” I’m just a bit skeptical since witnessing a ramp check at a local air show a few weeks ago. It wasn’t an ultralight, but I think there are a few Feds among all the good ones who would relish busting a “fat” UL.

Feel free to think whatever you want. Your bird, your butt in the seat. A ramp check doesn't verify speed. The major give aways are more than 5 gal gas tank, a 503 or bigger engine, 2 seats, and a panel rivaling a 747. Otherwise, they follow the duck rule. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and sounds like a duck, then it's probably a duck.

Mountain Cat wrote: ↑Tue Sep 26, 2023 2:55 pm Feel free to think whatever you want. Your bird, your butt in the seat. A ramp check doesn't verify speed. The major give aways are more than 5 gal gas tank, a 503 or bigger engine, 2 seats, and a panel rivaling a 747. Otherwise, they follow the duck rule. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and sounds like a duck, then it's probably a duck.

Agreed, UL pilots are more on the honor system. Unlike FFA registered aircraft, UL's are very rarely in the news for crashes and causing bodily harm to the public. Even the crashes are only investigated by local law enforcement. The NTSB and FAA have nothing to do with UL accidents, and pretty much don't wish to. The few regulations we have are there more for the ability for the FAA to fine those who happen (most likely more by accident than anything else) to violate Part 103. In fact that is the only reason UL's are referred to as vehicles by the FAA. Some say UL's are not aircraft because the FAA refers to them as vehicles in Part 103, but this is completely wrong. I don't recall the section, but in the FAR's the FAA states that an aircraft is defined as any craft which is designed to and capable of lifting a person into the area for a sustained amount of time. I have only heard of one issue with respect to the FAA and an ultralight. That occured back more than 20 years ago. A UL pilot was buzzing a neighborhood. He was caught on camera flying carelessly over a populated area. When I say carelessly, I mean he was buzzing people on the ground flying down the streets of the neighborhood. As long as we fly with good faith and safety, the FAA isn't going to bother UL's. You really are safe and need not worry if you exceed speed on occasion. Just don't strap a jet to your bird! That may be a bit too fast

And in 45 years of playing with aircraft, GA, E/AB and UL's, I have never seen an FAA inspector with scales.

Dobie, any idea what the FAA was checking for at that ramp check? I am curious to know!

@LA F2 Flyer. Disgruntled future ex-son-in-law made up a story about the in-law’s Cessna being out of annual. The FAA guy who works the air show every year was waiting for them when they taxied in. As far as I know no problems were found and the airplane flew home after the show.

Ouch, not nice. The good is that we have no required annual and other such things like, someone says the plane is overweight. You can remove all non-permanent items not required to fly the plane safely including seat cushions, radios, ADS-b in if you have it, tablet...etc. Those are all cargo. As for speed... do the calculation used by the FAA and as long as the numbers come back within spec, again, you're good. I have never heard of the FAA doing an actual fly by speed test. It would be next to impossible and take hours to complete. They don't have the time, and the calculation method keeps ultralights within a reasonable number concerning max speed. You've got no worries. The enforcement of the regulations is reasonable. The FAA realizes the numbers are going to be close to requirements. They also know that Chris has designed an ultralight that is within spec. Modifications to put the plane far enough out of regulations to be of concern would be easily spotted. Just make sure you remove the non-permanent mini-jet engine before inspection

Oh and part of your original question... Peer already has VG's on his plane and I plan to put them on mine. Since they most likely will improve STOL flight and have shown to not effect max speed flight, it seems reasonable to me to add them.

"@LA F2 Flyer. Disgruntled future ex-son-in-law made up a story about the in-law’s Cessna being out of annual. The FAA guy who works the air show every year was waiting for them when they taxied in. As far as I know no problems were found and the airplane flew home after the show."

Wow, that's next level petty. I wonder if there were any repercussions for the false statement? (Other than the expected punch in the eye from the future ex father-in-law.)